Mumbai, Nov 24 (PTI) A state-of-the-art air purification system that eliminates air-borne viruses in enclosed spaces will be installed across all PVR auditoriums to ensure that viewers feel completely at ease while watching a film, PVR CEO Gautam Dutta said on Wednesday.

The multiplex chain announced the installation of the cinema-specific air sterilization device called UFO-Wolf AirMask in partnership with UFO Moviez. The device offers "real-time air sterilization, providing protection against all kinds of harmful bacteria, viruses and microbes in the air and surfaces", PVR said in a statement.

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As of now, about 420 PVR screens have already installed the technology and the chain hopes to cover all its 855 auditoriums by December 15. The device would be installed in auditoriums, lobbies and washrooms across PVR properties and will be constantly monitored by engineers.

Though footfalls were not affected, the hesitancy was evident, Dutta said.

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"The footfalls weren't affected. But there was a certain amount of reluctance... Friends within our own circle would ask, 'Is it safe for me to come into a cinema hall?' There was a hesitancy, which we needed to clear. The air that you breathe here is so much better than the air you would breathe anywhere else," Dutta told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the event also attended by John Abraham.

People, he said, are returning to cinemas with new content and the company was constantly wondering whether it was doing enough.

"The feedback was that a section of the viewers wondered if the air quality inside a cinema hall would be clean. The whole thing was, when we sit in a confined space, it seems as if the same air is circulating... there was a doubt and we thought it needed to be cleared.

"When the UFO team came up with the solution, we thought we could end this once and for all. This solution hit out at all viruses and bacteria, which made a lot of sense," Dutta said.

It is a huge one time investment but we needed to go with it, he added. Giving the technical details, the company said in a statement that the device's "non-chemical negative ION Generation enhances health and vitality providing a 360-degree and 24×7 protection..."

"The product can discharge up to 100 trillion negative ions per cm3 / second, which will bind with the surface protein /Spike protein of the coronavirus, or any other harmful viruses and microbes present in the air and neutralize it. Also, it can neutralize 99% of SARS COVID-2 VIRUS within 15 minutes," the note from the multiplex chain read. On average, there would be about four and a half devices per auditorium. With a lifecycle of about 60,000-70,000 hours, the devices will be there "for eternity", Dutta said.

"We will switch them on 15 minutes prior to a show and will close 15 minutes after we have ended the last show. We have ion meters, expensive gadgets to monitor the devices, there will be audits being done zone wise, the head of engineering will go and measure to check if there are any fluctuations," Dutta added.

Ticket pricing, however, won't be impacted by the recent investment, he said.

"This is something we believed had to be done. So there will be no impact on ticket pricing." According to Kapil Agarwal, joint managing director, UFO Moviez, the team will start a massive campaign to make the audience aware of the air purification system installed in PVR properties to encourage them to step out more.

"For PVR, there will be four and a half devices per screen on an average. The devices won't be restricted to just the auditoriums, they will be there at the lobby and the washrooms too. The idea is, the moment you enter a PVR, it should be everywhere.

"Roughly there will be close to 4000 devices across the properties. One device costs Rs 30,000, including GST, so it comes down to an investment of more than 10 crore. It is a huge expense," Agarwal told PTI.

UFO Moviez is associated with Allabout Innovations Pvt Ltd, a technology fostering firm based out of Kochi, for distributing its product to theatres in India on an exclusive basis.

The device, which is specially designed for cinema halls, has been successfully tested on SARS COVID-2 VIRUS at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Trivandrum, an ICMR recognized and ILAC Accredited Lab (International), said a note provided by PVR.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)